Geography

Situated south of Peru and west of Bolivia and
Argentina, Chile fills a narrow 2,880-mi (4,506 km) strip between the
Andes and the Pacific. One-third of Chile is covered by the towering
ranges of the Andes. In the north is the driest place on Earth, the
Atacama Desert, and in the center is a 700-mile-long (1,127 km) thickly
populated valley with most of Chile's arable land. At the southern tip of
Chile's mainland is Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in the world, and
beyond that lies the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego, an island
divided between Chile and Argentina. The southernmost point of South
America is Cape Horn, a 1,390-foot (424 m) rock on Horn Island in the
Wollaston group, which belongs to Chile. Chile also claims sovereignty
over 482,628 sq mi (1,250,000 sq km) of Antarctic territory; the Juan
Fernández Islands, about 400 mi (644 km) west of the mainland; and Easter
Island, about 2,000 mi (3,219 km) west.

Government

Republic.

History

Chile was originally under the control of the
Incas in the north and the nomadic Araucanos in the south. In 1541, a
Spaniard, Pedro de Valdivia, founded Santiago. Chile won its independence
from Spain in 1818 under Bernardo O'Higgins and an Argentinian, José de
San Martin. O'Higgins, dictator until 1823, laid the foundations of the
modern state with a two-party system and a centralized government.

The dictator from 1830 to 1837, Diego Portales,
fought a war with Peru from 1836—1839 that expanded Chilean territory. Chile
fought the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia from 1879 to 1883,
winning Antofagasta, Bolivia's only outlet to the sea, and extensive areas
from Peru. Pedro Montt led a revolt that overthrew José Balmaceda in 1891
and established a parliamentary dictatorship lasting until a new
constitution was adopted in 1925. Industrialization began before World War
I and led to the formation of Marxist groups. Juan Antonio Ríos, president
during World War II, was originally pro-Nazi but in 1944 led his country
into the war on the side of the Allies.

In 1970, Salvador Allende became the first
president in a non-Communist country freely elected on a Marxist program.
Allende quickly established relations with Cuba and the People's Republic
of China, introduced Marxist economic and social reforms, and nationalized
many private companies, including U.S.-owned ones. In Sept. 1973, Allende
was overthrown and killed in a military coup covertly sponsored by the
CIA, ending a 46-year era of constitutional government in Chile.